Children's accident atlas
The children's accident atlas shows the regional distribution of traffic accidents with children in Germany . It is published by the Federal Highway Research Institute .
The accidents are shown in the form of classified frequencies that have occurred in a defined area, area or region. For example, the frequency of traffic accidents in relation to the size of the respective group of people can be graphically displayed using administrative units such as districts and municipalities . The result is a map or an atlas showing how often a road traffic accident has occurred in a region within a certain period of time.
Regional distribution of child accidents in Germany
Child traffic accidents are never evenly distributed across a country; there are regions with more or fewer accidents and, depending on the type of traffic involved, areas that are more or less at risk. Many road safety measures cannot be implemented across the board due to limited financial resources. It is therefore advisable to concentrate on areas with relatively high levels of accident exposure.
An up-to-date regional analysis of the data seemed to be important in order to identify, analyze and, if necessary, remove or defuse local accident black spots. An overview of the regional distribution of accidents also allows an assessment of particularly effective measures and is also of interest to associations that deal with road safety . For parents and teachers, the data provide an important orientation for determining how the situation on site is compared to other areas.
However, this information was not available for a long time at the county and municipality level.
predecessor
The first "accident atlas" of this kind concerned children who had died in road accidents in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1984 and was published in 1986 by Daimler-Benz AG . He identified the regions in which many children had accidents and compared them with those in which children were less likely to be involved in road accidents. In the then 328 independent cities and rural districts of the old federal states , all traffic accidents recorded by the police in which children (under the age of 15) were involved were divided into two age groups (0–5 and 6–14 years) and according to the type of traffic involved ( Pedestrians , cyclists , passengers in cars ) based on the total number of children registered as residents in the respective administrative unit. The primary aim of this accident atlas was to be able to use measures to improve road safety in a more targeted manner than before and thus to increase the efficiency of road safety work for children.
Investigation method
In the present child accident atlas, the accident data for children who had accidents in road traffic between 2001 and 2005 were calculated for every 1,000 children per age group for all 439 rural districts and urban districts . In addition, the data from 2003 to 2005 was analyzed at the municipality level. Based on the population of the municipalities in relation to the number of children involved in accidents per 1000 children of the age group, six groups of municipalities were formed. The first group consists of 15 large cities , the last group comprises 1705 municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants.
Results
Child accidents in Germany are not evenly distributed. The population-based analysis at the district level shows a clear north-south divide. However, this statement does not apply to all types of traffic. While children are particularly likely to have accidents as pedestrians in North Rhine-Westphalia and large cities in the Federal Republic of Germany, they are particularly at risk as cyclists in the regions of Schleswig-Holstein , Lower Saxony , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg. As passengers in cars, most of the children have accidents in rural areas of Bavaria and the eastern regions of the Federal Republic. In addition, it can be shown at the municipal level that the age group-related risk for pedestrians increases with the size of a city, while cyclists in so-called medium-sized cities are particularly likely to have accidents. As passengers in cars, children in very small towns with less than 10,000 inhabitants are at a significantly higher risk.
Inferences
On the basis of this report, it is possible to analyze the specific traffic safety situation of children not only in comparison with other districts, but also in comparison with other communities of the same size. Apart from the fact that those responsible on site are put in a position to classify the specific situation, measures can be implemented on this basis in a much more targeted and economically more sensible way. The calculations are repeated accordingly every five years.
criticism
According to the statistician Katharina Schüller, however, the interpretation of the results suffers from methodological errors, for example in that percentages were obtained by referring to the wrong values. The Bavarian Forest is only apparently a cyclist's paradise, in truth there are simply few children cycling. Since the accident rate was calculated per 1,000 registered children and not per 1,000 cycling children or per kilometer traveled, the lowest possible percentage of cyclists is beneficial for the ranking, recognizable by green areas in low mountain ranges. Accidents with non-resident children, e.g. B. of tourists, are included in these statistics and falsify them, since the number of accidents increases, but the reference group remains the same.
The accident rates are significantly influenced by the distances covered and the choice of means of transport, as well as by traffic from non-residents in the area of the city under consideration. This cannot be rejected with reference to the aim of searching for accident black spots, since in this case the absolute accident numbers would have to be considered.
Federal Office of Statistics
In addition to the Federal Highway Research Institute in Bergisch Gladbach, the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden , which is subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior, publishes atlas-like statistics on the development of children's accidents in the Federal Republic of Germany , which, however, differ structurally: According to this, a geographical comparison of the number of accidents among children under 15 Years the southern federal states of Baden-Württemberg , Bavaria , Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, with a rate of less than 250 accidents per 100,000 inhabitants, for example for 2015, had significantly better successes in establishing road safety than the northern federal states of Schleswig-Holstein , Hamburg , Bremen , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt with a respective quota of more than 301 accident children per 100,000 inhabitants. According to official statistics, the other federal states of Berlin , North Rhine-Westphalia , Lower Saxony , Saxony , Thuringia and Saarland occupy a middle position when it comes to accidents, with a rate of between 251 and 300 injured children. The figures show an obvious north-south divide, which suggests differently efficient traffic education and safety policies . The official statistics of the Federal Office differentiate between pedestrian, cyclist and passenger accidents in other scales and make corresponding annual comparisons.
literature
- H. Ch. Heinrich, D. Hohenadel: Accident atlas. Children injured in road accidents in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1984. ed. from Daimler-Benz AG, Stuttgart 1986.
- N. Neumann-Opitz, R. Bartz, Chr. Leipnitz: Children's accident atlas. Regional distribution of child accidents in Germany. In: Reports of the Federal Highway Research Institute, People and Safety. Booklet M192, 2008.
- Federal Statistical Office (Hrsg.): Statistisches Jahrbuch 2016. Child accidents in road traffic 2015 , Wiesbaden 2016.
Web links
- Federal Highway Research Institute: Children's accident atlas (PDF; 16.7 MB)
- German Road Safety Council: The children's accident atlas
Individual evidence
- ↑ DRadio Wissen: Where children live dangerously, Internet archive ( Memento from January 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Report on a presentation by Katharina Schüller for the Rosenheim Transport Committee
- ↑ Federal Statistical Office (Ed.): Statistisches Jahrbuch 2016. Child accidents in road traffic 2015 , Wiesbaden 2016, p. 7